Developer and publisher Gaijin Entertainment announced today that an official international championship called Gladiators.WT 4×4 is taking place in War Thunder. With more than $28,000 in prize fund at stake, the e-sports tournament will run until the end of March 2014.

In addition to in-game prizes, winners will get powerful gaming laptops, video cards and tablets. The official hardware partner of the tournament is MSI.

“Gladiators is a special set of rules well known among virtual pilots, and through trial we have perfected the tournament and optimized it, so that it is best suited for flight simulators,” said Gaijin Entertainment’s Creative Director Kirill Yudintsev. “The Gladiators.WT 4×4 iteration marks the first time that fans can watch the tournament live, making it a true e-sport experience. We’re looking forward to seeing which squad will be crowned a War Thunder champion.”

To become the champion in Gladiators.WT 4×4, the 310 teams, comprised of more than 1,800 pilots representing more than 30 countries, will battle for aerial supremacy over the course of several weeks.

The qualifying rounds will narrow the participating teams from 310 to 32, at which point a playoff will commence to determine the true champion. The championship is split into two divisions dedicated to Realistic and Simulation battles, and teamwork is crucial for winning the matches.

This is why every member of champion team in both divisions (12 players in total) will get a powerful gaming laptop from MSI, along with some in-game prizes. The teams that will come second and third in each division will also get valuable prizes.